NZ citizen living in Australia wanting to move to the US.

[jvl1337 0]

Hello I'm currently a New Zealand citizen living in Perth, Australia but would like to move to the US to work. I have multiple years of professional experience as a Software Engineer (but no College/University degree) and have scheduled on-site interviews with many high-profile tech companies coming up. Can someone please let me know what kind of visa i will need, what I'd need to do and how hard it'd be for me to attain a Visa? Would it be possible for a company that wants to recruit me to file for this on my behalf?

They've said to me the type of Visa that I'd need is a H1-B but I'd just like to confirm and understand exactly what this means.

Thanks!

[Mollie09 1,543]

Hi, welcome to VJ!

To work in the US in a field like software engineering, you are correct that you need an H1B visa. Only the employer can petition you, there's nothing you can apply for.

However, H1B requires a bachelor's degree "or equivalent", so unless you have that, it would be hard for you to qualify for it.

Bets of luck!

[kzielu 1,149]

Company will have to file on your behalf - there is no other way. You need to have employer, willing to file for you, can't just go and apply because you want to move...

Not the earliest the can apply for H-1B is April next year, earliest you can get it is October next year and last time there was so many petitions that it ended up being a lottery. Also, H-1B is a temporary work visa. Does not give you a permanent residence and eventually expires.

[ggsacks 82]

Hello I'm currently a New Zealand citizen living in Perth, Australia but would like to move to the US to work. I have multiple years of professional experience as a Software Engineer (but no College/University degree) and have scheduled on-site interviews with many high-profile tech companies coming up. Can someone please let me know what kind of visa i will need, what I'd need to do and how hard it'd be for me to attain a Visa? Would it be possible for a company that wants to recruit me to file for this on my behalf?

They've said to me the type of Visa that I'd need is a H1-B but I'd just like to confirm and understand exactly what this means.

Thanks!

Hello from a kiwi in NYC

The other posters are correct. Unfortunately you're not the only one who would like to move to the US for work, and there really is no general purpose working visa available. As mentioned, the H1-B is not an easy visa to obtain and is substantially more beneficial for people who are already living or studying in the USA than it is for foreigners wanting to move here.

Do you have Australian citizenship? If so, and you have more than 12 years' work experience*, you could look into the E-3 visa. It still requires sponsorship, but it is allocated solely to Australian citizens so far easier to deal with.

Otherwise, your most likely options involve either winning the green card lottery or waiting for immigration reform, which may include more provisions for easier access to highly skilled working visas.

(*each 3 years of work experience in the same field is seen as the equivalent to 1 year of college-level education, so 12 years of work experience would be the equivalent of a Bachelor's degree)

Edited July 24, 2014 by GiuseppeG

[jvl1337 0]

Hello from a kiwi in NYC

The other posters are correct. Unfortunately you're not the only one who would like to move to the US for work, and there really is no general purpose working visa available. As mentioned, the H1-B is not an easy visa to obtain and is substantially more beneficial for people who are already living or studying in the USA than it is for foreigners wanting to move here.

Do you have Australian citizenship? If so, and you have more than 12 years' work experience*, you could look into the E-3 visa. It still requires sponsorship, but it is allocated solely to Australian citizens so far easier to deal with.

Otherwise, your most likely options involve either winning the green card lottery or waiting for immigration reform, which may include more provisions for easier access to highly skilled working visas.

(*each 3 years of work experience in the same field is seen as the equivalent to 1 year of college-level education, so 12 years of work experience would be the equivalent of a Bachelor's degree)

I don't have Australian citizenship but I do have New Zealand citizenship. I have about 5 years work experience and I did 1 year of University before dropping out to work full time at a company who offered me a job.

The company in question is a large multinational internet company, and they have said they have lawyers on site who will do everything they can to expedite the process and will pay for everything that I'd need (relocation, visa, etc), but seeing as I don't have 12 points, is this not an option at this point? (I'm 20 years old, so attaining 12 points at my age is effectively impossible)

[Mollie09 1,543]

I don't have Australian citizenship but I do have New Zealand citizenship. I have about 5 years work experience and I did 1 year of University before dropping out to work full time at a company who offered me a job.

The company in question is a large multinational internet company, and they have said they have lawyers on site who will do everything they can to expedite the process and will pay for everything that I'd need (relocation, visa, etc), but seeing as I don't have 12 points, is this not an option at this point? (I'm 20 years old, so attaining 12 points at my age is effectively impossible)

You can go back to school and get a Bachelor's degree, then you'd be eligible for an H1B. Otherwise, the only options available are the ones mentioned above.

[ggsacks 82]

I don't have Australian citizenship but I do have New Zealand citizenship. I have about 5 years work experience and I did 1 year of University before dropping out to work full time at a company who offered me a job.

The company in question is a large multinational internet company, and they have said they have lawyers on site who will do everything they can to expedite the process and will pay for everything that I'd need (relocation, visa, etc), but seeing as I don't have 12 points, is this not an option at this point? (I'm 20 years old, so attaining 12 points at my age is effectively impossible)

The requirements for the H1-B are either a Bachelor's degree or 12 years of relevant work experience. Relevant = if you are applying to work in the tech industry, the 12 years of work experience need to be in that specific field. For example, if you instead had 12 years' experience as a mechanic, then you would still not be eligible.

The company will check to make sure you meet the visa requirements. If you don't, it's incredibly unlikely that they will try and hire you as it's a waste of their time and money. The EB-3 employment based green card has roughly the same requirements.

Also, as mentioned above, the annual allocation is exhausted very, very quickly. USCIS accepts petitions from April 1 each year. This year the cap was reached after 4 days, after which no petitions are accepted until the following April 1. From the pool of applicants, 65k are chosen by lottery.

[ggsacks 82]

By the way, as a New Zealander you have the second highest chance in the world of being selected for the DV Lottery. I wasn't joking when I said it's your best option!

[Boiler 45,525]

I don't have Australian citizenship but I do have New Zealand citizenship. I have about 5 years work experience and I did 1 year of University before dropping out to work full time at a company who offered me a job.

The company in question is a large multinational internet company, and they have said they have lawyers on site who will do everything they can to expedite the process and will pay for everything that I'd need (relocation, visa, etc), but seeing as I don't have 12 points, is this not an option at this point? (I'm 20 years old, so attaining 12 points at my age is effectively impossible)

There are no points in the US system.

Sounds like a L rather than a H anyway.

Let the Company Lawyers sought it out, unusual at your age, obviously not a cheap process, and not many 20 year olds would warrant it.

[Mollie09 1,543]

There are no points in the US system.

Sounds like a L rather than a H anyway.

Let the Company Lawyers sought it out, unusual at your age, obviously not a cheap process, and not many 20 year olds would warrant it.

A lot of people, myself included, get their first H1B in their early 20's after graduating with a Bachelor's degree (in the US), so not necessarily true.

But I know the majority get theirs after a (usually foreign) master's degree.

[Boiler 45,525]

He is 20 with no qualifications, not an obvious choice for a multi national to transfer.

And this is not a H.

[Mollie09 1,543]

He is 20 with no qualifications, not an obvious choice for a multi national to transfer.

And this is not a H.

For an L he would have to work for the company in his home country for over a year first anyways.

[Boiler 45,525]

I know.

[umeranyth 0]

Hey jvl1337,

As other posters have mentioned, you don't really have any options considering you don't have a Bachelor's. You'll have to either go back to school or work another 4+ years (I read somewhere that 1 year of school is equivalent to about 3 years of work experience) to be able to be eligible for the H1B visa.

And even then, you'll have to fight the uphill battle of facing the annual cap. Of course there are ways around the cap (e.g, Masters, cap-exempt jobs etc.), but the onus is on you to try and figure out which way is the best for you and your career. I know this sounds demotivating, but as many other posters have said, if working in the US was easy, everyone would be here no?!

I don't want to get all preachy on you since I don't know you at all, but you're only 20…. You have a LOT of time and options to figure things out.

Best of luck and don't hesitate to reach out to me if you have further questions!!